Portable lamp



Sept. 1, 1-925. 1,551,721

' 1-1. T WILSON ET AL v PORTABLE LAMP Filed June 25, 1923 ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,551,721 PATENT OFFlCE.

HARRY '1. WILSON AND CARL WILCKE, F DAYTON, OHIO; SAID WILCKE ASSIGNOR TO S ID WILSQN.

PORTABLE LAMP.

Application filed June 25, 1923. Serial No. 647,551.

To all whom itmag concern.

Be it known that We, HARRY T. WILSON and CARL WVILoKE, citizens of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have 'invented a new and useful Portable Lamp, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to portable electric light fixtures of a type adapted to be clamped to an object, such as a table, a post of a metal bed, etc. Various lamps of this type have been devised, each having certain faults or limitations, and the main object of our invention is to produce a lamp having fewer of these limitations and faults than the lamps now on the market. Another object is to produce a lamp which can be manufactured at a moderate cost, and still another object is to provide a lamp having a base enabling it to be set on a table, shelf, or elsewhere, in addition to having the facilities for clamping it to an object, as previously mentioned. We have illustrated our invention in the accompanying drawing, in-

" which Fig. 1 .shows an elevational view of the lamp clamped to a board which may be the top of a table, a shelf, or the like;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental'view showing the post of a metal bed; and I Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 1, with the stem cut ofi' at 3-3.

The base 10 of our lamp is preferably square and made of sheet metal. Secured to this base by screws 11 is a stem, indicated generally by the numeral 12. This stem comprises a strip of metal bent to a form resembling an elongate letter U, the base of the U, which is made flat, standing on the base 10, and its legs 13 extending upwardin parallel relation, having clamped between their upper extremities a lamp socket 14. A screw 15, and a thumb nut (not shown), enable the socket to be rocked to any desired angle with reference to the stem and secured in that position. Between the legs 13 of the stem is secured the member 16. This member also consists of a strip of metal, bent to form approximately a letter U, except that the letter is inverted, and the extremities of its le s are bent toward each other, as at 17-1 in Fig. 1. These parts 1717 are tapped to receive the screws 11 by which the stem is secured to the ase.

lamp clamped t a pipe, as, for examplefthe' For the purpose of clamping the lamp to various articleswe provide a resilient flexible clamping member 20. This member has a hole in about its center but slightly larger than the stem, so that it may be slid up and down on the stem with freedom when the member is perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the stem, but the edgesof the hole being adapted to grip the stem and render the member immovable on the stem when the member is tilted. At one side of the stem the member is bent to form a sort of groove 21, thus enabling the member to partially surround a curved object, such as the post 22 in Fig. 2. The outer edge of this curved part of the clamping member is curved upwardto form a sort of bead 23 adapted to bear on a table top or the like, as in Fig. 1.

The operation of this clamping member will now be explained. Let us assume that the lamp is to be clamped to a table top, as in Fig. 1: The base is placed below the table top and the clamp 20 on top, then while holding the base against the under side of the table pressure is applied to the clamp at about the point 241. This pressure slides the clamp member down on the stem and if the pressure applied be sufficient to flex the clamping member, thus putting the member in tension, it is clear that this tension will serve a double purpose: First, it will press the clamping member against the table, or in other words, confine the table between the base and the clamping member with a pressure equal to the tension. Second, since the clamping member has been tilted on the stem by pushing it down, the tension under which the member is placed causes the edges of the hole to grip the stem, thus preventing self-release of the clamping member. To re lease the clamping member upward pressure is applied to the free edge of the member, as at 25. To clamp the lamp to a bed post, or similar curved object, as in Fig. 2, the pressure is applied at about the point 26. In this figure the object 22 may be considered a vertical post of a bed, or it may be some horizontal, or even angularly disposed object.

When the lamp is to be used for ordinary purposes, that is, not clamped to any object, the clamping member may be allowed to lie down on the base, where it not only is innocuous but it may be used as a holder for pens, pencils, or the like. It may also be used to bind papers together.

While we have described what at the present ime s ms to be he p e e e const uction for our lamp, it is not to be thought that we limit ourselves to the particular structural details illustrated, as these may be varied without departure from the spirit of our invention, or exceeding the scope of our claims.

Furthermore, our clamping mechanism is not limited in its use to a portable lamp, as it might be used {or other purposes or to support other articles; for example, a mirror, or a telephone bracket. We believe we are the first to produce a flexible resilient clamping device in which the resiliency of a clamping member serves the double purpose of putting pressure on the article clamped and causing the clamping member to grip its supporting rod or stem.

What we claim as our invention is as follows:

1. An attachable support for an electric lamp, comprising a socket for holding a lamp bulb, a standard for supporting the socket, a base secured thereto, having a clamping face, and a flexible clamping plate having an aperture slightly larger than said standard, through which the standard slides, said plate having one end curved toward the base with a clamping bead thereon and a clamping groove between the bead and aperture, .said plate gripping the standard at two opposite sides of the aperture when the support is clamped on an object.

2. An attachable support for an electric lamp, comprising a socket for holding a lamp bulb, a standard for supporting the socket, a base secured thereto, having a clamping face, and a flexible clamping plate having an aperture slightly larger than said standard, through which the standard slides, said plate having one end curved toward the base with a clamping bead thereon and a clamping groove between the bead and aperture, said plate gripping the standard at two opposite sides of the aperture when the support is clamped on an object, the end of said plate opposite that carrying the bead forming a handle whereby to flex the plate to release its grip on the stem.

HARRY T. VILSON. CARL WILCKE. 

